UMECUnited Mining Exploration Commission: A group of friends playing JumpGate-- "a MMORPG that launched smoothly, breaks from fantasy character setting, emphasizes PvP, and is the first persistent world space simulator that nobody talks about." ~Scorch

Most of the links below are screenshots i took of the inflight tutorial popups that you get when first flying (coloring them in green). Those popups aren't the greatest nor do they get repeated, so i felt it would be nice to make up a critique for your viewing pleasure. Right then, off we go.
IntroductionDockingPart1
Would be helpful at this point to teach one how exactly to tell when you are 1200m from the station, especially since it's not exactly intuitive how one goes about targetting said station. (default keys are shown in this PDF document; JOSSH Flight Academy section)

DockingPart3
Now, here's another confusing topic. "How does one tell when one is turned around 180degrees?" Apart from eyeballing flying "dust particles" there's only the velocitometer. (You can see that in the 2nd PDF document i linked)Thing is, the velocitometer isn't explained very well in the "coming to a complete stop quickly context". Personally, i thought everyone cool "hotdogged" it into the docking port without that silly docking ring stuff...ah youth. *sigh* Okay, so you're flying through space right now testing out your new targetting hotkeys (or at least flipping your scrollwheel/joystickbuttons#3-4) and wondering about that "zoom" hotkey i mentioned earlier...i'll mention that later on, first off...
DOCKING 101...reverse thrust mpeg-1DockingPart4
This bit really ticks me off. there's no emphasis on coming to a complete stop...there's no emphasis on getting to lvl1 so you can buy a camera modx so you can enable the ZOOM hotkey. Crucial. 'nuff said.
(One of those should be your first purchase upon reaching level 1.)

If i did my job right, you just docked flawlessly. *g* Oh, and do deactivate the simulator mode once you're done practicing (if you were logged on). BTW, in the "real world" you must respect the right of way of really big ships trying to dock, so always cycle through your radar once you get within range of the green docking rings (6000 distance) just in case someone's ahead of you. (your tiny ship can bump a larger one to it's death. rather impolite if i must say so, and something that'll get you rather dead yourself in an unfunny way) Let's repeat that because "Docking Etiquette" is crucial; When on approach to dock, always be aware that there are others who might be in docking approach...It's polite to avoid bumping into people on your way in. the best way is to let people know you're in docking approach via the F3 chat function. This is where chat 'Macros' come into their own

press 'ENTER', then F6, and you'll see this.
you can set the number to 1 for faction chat (quantar only; same sector), 2 for squad chat (multifaction; galaxy wide), 3 for sector chat (multifaction; same sector), 4 for whisper (one person; galaxy wide) or 5 for public booth (multifaction; galaxy wide)

MarketDisclaimer-Engines
Too bad there's no disclaimer about making sure how many engines you need to buy (only pops up on the sell order. pfft) They really should have described the Market view filters, especially the "sort by level" filter. VERY crucial!
MarketDisclaimer-MODxMarketDisclaimer-Cargo massMarketDisclaimer-Radar
Actually, radars DON'T drain alot of energy, neither do shields...it's insignificant compared to energy needed to power your engines and combat guns. (though you will notice radar power drain when it happens; ]the designers made sure power supply matched engine drain on a number of ships...so it's tricky, especially when you're a n00b and your radar goes black

Oh, BTW, that cute sentence they added about display modes? the "e" key? well, if you hit that by accident you risk losing the ability to change targets...nasty little trick ain't it? (same goes for the "h" key...deletes your chat box)

BTW, while you're in simulator mode there's an old trick to selling your gear quickly

buy your new gear you want to test out first before you switch gear/ship

go into ship configuration window and deequip all gear from guns/missiles/equipment menus (illustration) or switch ships

Login Greeting for the EU server
(US server tries to show news/updates, but they haven't done so for awhile seeing as how the Internal GMs are the developers working on EP2)

Internal GMs also create the FactionMissions & TRImissions. (explained below) These, in time, will be granted tools to tweaks alot more stuff. Probably after EP2 arrives there will be time to do this. (estimated time till EP2? end of january is my guess. it's my birthday then, so it would be a nice present. *g*)

Do note that while flying, unlike station chatter, your ability to chat with other folks is keyed EACH SENTENCE to pressing the appropriate Function key on your keyboard. {{f1-f5}} (you'll find the description of how to know which chat function key to use from a PDF reference card located here; or the JOSSH flight academy section) If you ever lose sight of your Chat box, press 'H' ("HUD toggle) repeatedly until you see it again

Missions-IntroductionMissions-Destination
This is where it gets most n00bs. Each time you reconnect/logon, the default destination is not your current station, but Solrain-Core station which might be parsecs away from you if you're not Solrain (blue)

Later on the mission destination will remember what the last destination you picked and set that as a temp.default until you log off/disconnect

Missions-The Map
This isn't in your tutorial. and i think it should be. I've edited that screenshot in photoshop to highlight where you're at when you first log on. (Red is Octavian, Green is Quantar and Blue is Solrain (you can tell by looking for the lightly blinking ship in one of those highlights)

i've also highlighted with white lines your route to your 1st mission's destination. It's a good idea to keep this route for a few missions too...Also, i've marked with yellow the toggle to mark beacon control. I don't want to get into that right away, since that must wait till later for a better explanation
MAP STUFF 101

Missions-Mining
This is misleading, as always. First off, taking a mission then going looking for roids is stupid, especially advice to a n00b. Unless you really know where the non-brown roids are you'd best stick to transport+brownroid mining enroute if you're Quantar. (I talk about how exactly to do this in Quantar Levelling tips thread; If you're not Quantar just skip this mission type for a while.) Secondly, I really wish they used the technical term so i could point to the appropriate JOSSH topic. but alas it's all fubar. Anyways, when one is mining the most important thing to note is whether you have a mining laser or not (plus what the cargo indicator looks like -- also of import is making sure you don't have something stuffed in your cargo you shouldn't have)

The mining lasers are in the Guns section of the market and the n00b mining gear looks like this:
The long and short of it is that you shouldn't even glance at this unless you're Quantar. (at least when you're a n00b)

Missions-Transport
This is the mission i suggest you take until you're level 3 at least. I've shown you how to dock..shown you the best route to go on...I think the risk of failure is low. (besides. i think the risk is minimal. (besides, each faction has it's own variation of explanation about how to level efficiently for n00bs)

Missions-Cargo
Yeah. i know. this looks REALLY juicy, but the risks just aren't worth it until you can haul butt. Especially since your n00b invulnerability shields don't protect against Conflux (pink outerspace monsters; Computer AI)

besides, the best one's are to neutral stations and even though it gives phenomenal XP/CR, you have to realize there's no missions to be had at your destination at a neutral station, so you get screwed over that way.

Missions-Patrol
"beacon"-schmeekan! how many times have you wondered WTF a "beacon" is? (because it's slang) The technical term for this, and what shows on your inflight target readout, is...

Patrol missions are imperative to local defense within a faction's sphere of influence. These missions are extremely straightforward, in that all you need to do is pass through a series of space locations. Once you have docked, the dock crew will make sure that your ship's flight recorder information is downloaded and sent to central command for processing.

JOSSH - motto: making n00bs feel even more dumb

TRANSLATION

Quote:

Patrol missions are imperative to local defense within a faction's sphere of influence. These missions are extremely straightforward, in that all you need to do is pass through a series of TRI SENSOR ARRAY BEACONS. Once you have docked...blah blah blah

Revised JOSSH - motto: making n00bs feel informed

...Actually, veterans call them "Beeks". FYI, "Flipping Beeks" is another topic not suited to n00b tutorials...Anyways, you line up on one of these suckers and careful go through the middle of the "tunnel" at each waypoint in your mission. You don't need any special modx gear for this Patrol mission. Actually, i'd recommend skipping this kinda mission because the mission reward doesn't match the time spent/risk taken. I'll let you know when ND boost the CR bonus.

Missions-Combat
Pretty self-explanatory. You're advised not to engage flux, but flee to fight another day. (too bad it doesn't mention you can practice in the simulator mode against conflux. ah well. nothing's perfect)

you can also practice in the offline simulator without logging on by launching and entering the comm line command, "/ai"
CONFLUX 101

Missions-Scout
*sigh* "visual recording device" is a camera Modx (smart asses). and a scanning device is one of these jolly fellows:
(Not really recommended that one do these missions because the mission bonus sucks when one adds up extra flight time. I'll let you know when ND boosts the XP bonus)

those two mission types practically define what "TRI" stands for. unfortunately there's precious little in the way of plain english to describe it. i've tried here, and hopefully someday we'll have someone give a no-nonsense rundown on what "TRI" means and what this game is really about anyways, from a customer's point of view instead of some lipjockey talkinghead with more...well, nevermind.

How to Join a squad
Okay, so you've found out what squad you wish to join, but don't know where the frickin button is?
here: US server (NetDevil/ThemisGroup); EU server (MightyGames)

How to stop yourself rolling
oh yeah, and another important tip for non-flightsim players new to jumpgate: The numberpad5 to "center view" is also the "stop roll" button. (i'm assuming the reason they didn't mention that was because i believe "center view" has ALWAYS been "stop roll" in conventional flightsims. am i right?)

Adjusting the soundtracks that come with JumpGate? Just head on over to this thread

HurfBurf wrote:

How to manage macros for multiple accounts: The macros are stored in macro.bin. You can make a macro file for each of your accounts.

In JG, set up the macros for account #1
Copy macro.bin, name the copy account1_macro.bin
In JG, set up the macros for account #2
Copy macro.bin, name the copy account2_macro.bin
repeat for all accounts

now, create an MS-DOS batch file for each account that sets up the macros and put them in the same directory as macro.bin and the copies:

make a similar file for each account. put a shortcut to each batch file in an easily accessible location, like your quick launch bar or start menu or desktop. now all you have to do is run the appropriate batch file before you launch JG.

Mentoring

under no circumstances should you accept a mentor invitation unless said mentor is willing to hang off your wingtip 24/7 (Illustration)

The mentor system works very well for some, and some people seem to really benefit from it, some people give a lot of help, it is also a cheap and cheerful and easy way of getting experience for doing nothing for some people.

I think the problem is that true mentors get more out of the system than n00bs assume. Information. A mentor with a student is notified through the mentor system when a student logs on, off gains XP. (which in itself allows me to guess which missions are being done, what medals are being rewarded and when it's time to suggest options)

the best time to suggest something is when a n00b has just completed a mission

(UMEC's version of JOSSH recruiting posters)

Last edited by MajorFreak on Sat Jun 07, 2003 7:45 pm; edited 24 times in total

I'd like to keep the rewards for going into unreg high. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a sadist or a noob killer . It's just that when I was a newbie (before exp for unreg station trannies was boosted) I liked nothing better than a trip to unreg (LL, though I tried to make it to GBS once - couldn't too many flux in the way, had to turn back ), for the sheer excitement value compared to reg space. Tranny missions are insanely dull, and the occasional PoD from a pirate (they were nice about it though, I got PoDded twice for 1k, though I had to be babied through the process the first time , and killed once by some level 14 quant whose name I can't remember. Grrrr.) livened things up a lot.

I always felt a little cheated that despite taking a greater risk I didn't get better rewarded for the trip there and back. I always believed in a risk->reward system for levelling. The problem is making the average noob who just wants to level not take the missions (I was crap at levelling. It took me three weeks to get to lvl 15, where those hyp and Aman missions for about 20k exp happened. Doing Hyp and Aman at the same time 1k exp per minute was possible). I guess a really big bold warning on the mission selector saying MISSION EXTREMELY DANGEROUS or summit might help.

The below was in the context of a sentient NPC piloted ship at ganked a n00b during a faction mission in Amananth sectors on EU server by an "employee" of MightyGames. (I find it an excellent topic to describe any and all PvP risks in JumpGate, regardless of the way i personally feel about that specific context)

you can find that rather bilious topic here. you'll need to register to see that nasty piece of work...anyways, back to the topic at hand...

I was simply questioning the apparent suggestion that a noob who has strayed into an area that is marked as highly dangerous, where they have been told that there is a high risk of their being killed, has any right to feel upset or offend when it does in fact come to pass.

And before you start accusing me of writing a greifers charter I'd like to point out that it is a matter of degrees and by whom the so-called greifing is being done. I, personally, trust MG to know when to make an exception and when the longer term goals of the games RP storyline are best served by such actions, and to decided on appropiate actions to take.

I would not, for instance, expect MG to launch a massive sent attack on a Core sector, or indeed any station sector, that involved the wanton killing of non-combantant NooB because that would be wrong.

However Amanthi is not a core station sector. It is borderd on all sides by unregulated space. It is clearly marked as highly dangerous at this time. It is heavily trafficed by normal AI flux at the best of time. By the very act of going there the NooB was agreeing to the RoE of that area, which involved the risk that he may be killed. If he was unwilling to take that risk then he should not have been there. If he was unaware of the risks then they were not explained sufficently to him, I do not think MG can be blamed on that score.

It took concious act of will on the NooBs part to travel to Amanth and take part in that mission. He did not just stumble into through no action of his own. It was not enforced on him with no prior warning. He chose to be there and take that risk. He chose poorly.

I do not, however, trust any player run squad to make those same choices. This is by simple virtue of the fact that they do not have enough information at their disposal to be able to do this.

It is my belief that there is a clear cut definition between MG doing this and a Player run squad doing it. Feel free to disagree.

The only way for players to transition from clueless newbie to seasoned pilot is for them to EXPERIENCE the bloody game. They HAVE to find out about sentients AT SOME POINT and it'll be bloody traumatic whenever they do it. For anyone who gives a flying monkey about deaths and stuff, the first one on one encounter with a sentient is ALWAYS going to be horrible, regardless of when it happens. It's like pirates - EVERYONE tells newbies to pay the pirate or they'll get ripped, but the first time most of them try running. And they die. And they really don't enjoy it, whether they were level 5 or level 50. But from that point on they KNOW that pirates are dangerous (rather than simply being told, which is NOT the same thing) and they'll either pay up or find some bigger friends. Newbies don't magically become "more intelligent" as they level up, they simply become MORE EXPERIENCED WITH THE GAME.

-WerteX- (trust me!) Nazgul wrote:

If you [] take the danger out of this game, it will become very boring very fast.

They are an IC item that should inspire fear and the need to change ones boxers, if an experienced pilot messes up and takes a noob in then tough cack, at least have the huevos to stand up and admit you f***ed up. MG/Ops whoever have their faults but don't expect perfection because it aint gonna happen, they try to being in some tougher RP and you whine, they bring in not so tough RP u whine..........................Its called common sense, the noobs we school are told, mantas - nasty, keep away till you have practised enough. This sector/this sector bla bla has mantas therefore don't go. In this case an experienced pilot took a noob into an advertised, well documented RP sector that was full of sents. Note the use of the word >>>RP<<<, i think although unfortunate, it is a completely IC response to shoot him, sorry but i have been a noob, got shot in unreg, been killed by sentsetc etc and i dont think this should be any different.

Your problem is you are trying to equate the rules that pilots/players have to (uhuh ok, try to) abide by which are OOC rules designed to control people who sole intent is to cause havoc and mayhem in an OOC fashion on the server, to those used in a peice of RP which are totally IC designed to enhance and make the storyline more realistic. These are sentient conflux ffs....they are supposed to be our nemesis, dyu think if you didnt know that they were being flown by OPs you'd give a crap about a noob being shot? They are supposeds to be nasty, supposed to kill, if you are stupid enough to convince a noob to go in and try and shoot a sent then you deserve all the flaming you get for whining about it.

One thing that you can be sure of is that MG using sents to kill people WILL WITHOUT A DOUBT be done for PURE RP reasons. The same could not be said if anyone could do it. Mg can at least be trusted to do that, and not go around every night killing noobs in a mass grief rampage. The sad fact is, there is NO WAY that kind of responsibility can be given to the whole community becuase lame ass people would go around griefing ppl as they see fit. It simply comes down to numbers and trust, and RP. MG manage this game and look after ALL the RP stuff. If they do something like that during an event, at least you know it's real RP and not like some of the other lamer griefer (pretend) RP that goes on out there.

If MG could trust all pilots only to attack newbies when their RP strictly demanded it, then the griefing RoC would be lifted. As it is, they've got plenty of reason not to trust the playerbase to do anything on the sort, so they don't. On the other hand, they DO trust the OP/GM team (or more accurately, they only recruit people they think they can trust, and then slap a load of NDAs and stuff on them to make sure), which is why we are allowed to kill new pilots ocasionally, in a limited way, when it's approved by a high-up and according to strict RoE (they don't trust us _that_ much, don't worry). Think I'm digressing again - going to stop talking now if that's ok with everyone

lmao the irony is that true n00bs think FAQs, simulators and JOSSH is for the birds. (i was once that way for at least a month. simulator? ha! i docked like a real man who hotdogs it in without halting, because slowing down is uncool)

just look at all those high level pilots and how fast they dock. they HAVE to be moving constantly, right?

not to mention MY first mission was a tranny to tripoint via PoH and that darned purple player didn't answer my F3 hails and people called this ubergriefer, "conflux" (i learnt real quick, but i didn't pay any attention until i got ganked)

hey! back when i was a MMOG n00b i didn't even know what the hell 'Griefer' denoted...i just thought that purple player was a big meanie for not telling me why it was preventing me from completing a mission - in fact failing it.

Thing is, i'm afraid this whole issue has become illustrative of how "zero tolerance" MG are towards anyone who does think FAQ's, JOSSH and F5:help is for the birds. (jeez. it's just a n00b, damnit. unfortunately, they boosted the XP to absurd levels that to a n00b browsing the mission tree would leap at)

how hard would it have been for that Sentient pilot to have called up an OP/GM to warn an optimus escorting a n00b doing that FM that the sent wouldn't go through [read: rip/gank/pod] the optimus first before targetting the n00b second...people assume that n00bs aren't fair game to honourable pilots. (and GM/OPs flying sentients should always give a wink wink nudge nudge treatment towards n00bs regardless of the reward bonus for a certain mission is)

not to even mention the fact n00bs really feel left out when there's a veteran's FM and there's nothing for the n00bs to feel like they can contribute via a parallel mission...but, that's fodder for a flame war and i've already spoken my piece on that subject 24 hours ago in my first reply to GMSilk (for convenience, here's that link again)

it wouldn't have to be even remotely connected to the aman RP either...just anything that isn't obviously a token gesture...it's not hard you know. this is just a game

I do hope anyone reading this now understands the attitude n00bs have towards JumpGate and the proper attitude we should have about OUR naivette towards their naivette (ie. without the patronizing condescension)

ooops! bad muffy. keep away from the flamethrower!

There's another thread that's more appropriate for "the dangers of Unreg" in an *IC* context. see that here. Plus, here's one dealing with a pirate context (more *OOC* than *IC*)